Overview for energy

Newt, Your Ad With Pelosi Wasn't Dumb

Newt Gingrich recently described his 2008 appearance in a 30-second ad with then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “ the dumbest single thing I’ve done. ” Many conservatives share a negative view of it. Ron Paul, for instance, cites the ad as an example of Newt’s “serial hypocrisy.” Curious, I took a …

Written by Kenneth Silber on Monday December 5, 2011

About that Perry Jobs Plan

The governor's jobs plan is to open more of the US to energy exploration and production. He promises that such a policy will create 1.2 million new jobs. When I heard this, it seemed to me utterly implausible: the US oil and gas industry employs 2.1 million today, coal under 100,000 - and these …

Written by David Frum on Monday October 17, 2011

Want Fewer Wildfires? Burn More Wood.

The recent wildfires in Texas have returned forest management to the headlines. In Texas and elsewhere, wildfires have destroyed property, endangered firefighters and polluted the local environment. While fires are a natural phenomenon, humans can increase their severity or frequency through …

Written by Bob McKie on Friday September 30, 2011

Christie's Climate Change Straight Talk

Chris Christie may have pulled New Jersey from the Northeast's power plant cap-and-trade program but in the larger battle on climate change, he's on the right side. Chris Christie has pulled New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or "Reggie," the power plant cap-and-trade …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Friday May 27, 2011

Don't Pick on Big Oil For Having Big Profits

Congress' decision to attack oil companies is a weak diversion from their own inability to control prices at the pump. Repeal the so-called subsidies to oil and gas? Ostensibly this is a punitive measure that targets oil companies for the rise in the price of gasoline at the pump, even though …

Written by Brad Schaeffer on Wednesday May 18, 2011

Obama's Cynical Drilling Drive

Obama's decision to expand U.S. oil production might be smart politically, but it won't do anything to reduce gas prices. What President Obama’s Saturday radio address should have said: "My fellow Americans. Today, I am directing the Department of the Interior to conduct annual lease sales in …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Monday May 16, 2011

FroshUpdate: West for the West Wing?

Freshmen have been pushing the energy bills in the American Energy Initiative, but conservative economists tell FrumForum it will have little effect on gas prices in the next year. Meanwhile, freshman Rep. Martha Roby calls rising gas prices “the greatest threat to our economy”. Rick …

Written by Tim Mak on Monday May 16, 2011

GOP Energy Bills Won't Save You at the Pump

Republicans have applauded the passage of energy bills to address skyrocketing gas prices but conservative economists say they will have minimal impact. Even as Republican Congressmen applauded the passage of three energy bills they said would address skyrocketing gas prices, conservative …

Written by Tim Mak on Friday May 13, 2011

The Dems' Big Oil Tax Break Trap

Senate Democrats are circulating a bill to cinch up oil company tax loopholes and use the resulting revenue to pay down the deficit. Senate Democrats are circulating a bill to cinch up oil company tax loopholes and use the resulting revenue to pay down the deficit. The bill would take aim at …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Wednesday May 11, 2011

GOP Freshmen: Job Numbers Still Too Weak

GOP freshmen were dismissive of Friday's report that the economy had added jobs. Instead, they pushed the White House to do more to boost the recovery and cut energy prices. Friday’s unemployment numbers were greeted almost unanimously by discontentment from freshmen Republican Congressmen over …

Written by Tim Mak on Saturday May 7, 2011

Selling Green Tech to Wall Street

Green tech ideas often face unique challenges trying to win financial backing. But a new proposal could give the feds a role in helping them attract private capital. Tuesday's hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee saw remarkable harmony regarding legislation to give the …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Thursday May 5, 2011

Can the GOP Break Its Oil Addiction?

The House GOP wants to cut spending. Why then are they so reluctant to take on big oil's subsidies and tax breaks? The problem with intellectual inconsistency is that it usually comes back to bite you. The House Republican leadership is getting a painful lesson in this regard because of their …

Written by David Jenkins on Friday April 29, 2011

Washington's Gas Price Blame Game

Both parties have responded to the gas price debate with the same old rhetoric: blaming greedy speculators or regulations on domestic drilling. Here we go again: Gasoline prices are dancing at or above $4 per gallon, and politicians on both sides of the aisle are dusting off tried-and-true …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Tuesday April 26, 2011

The Spill Washington Forgot

One year after the worst oil spill in American history, Washington's shrugged off the disaster and is ready to push for more drilling to counter rising gas prices. After the 1969 Santa Barbara well blowout that smeared 100, 000 barrels of oil along California’s picturesque central coast, the …

Written by David Jenkins on Thursday April 21, 2011

Gulf Residents Ready to Jump-Start Drilling

Slowly but surely, Louisiana is recovering from the BP spill. But oil workers are still tied down by the White House’s decision to only grant a small number of drilling permits. Slowly but surely, Louisiana is recovering from the devastating blow it was delivered when BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil …

Written by Tim Mak on Wednesday April 20, 2011

It's About Time Congress Takes on BP

A year after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing eleven and dumping oil into the Gulf of Mexico, one legislator is fighting to hold BP accountable. One year ago, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and injuring sixteen more. The …

Written by Tim Mak on Wednesday April 20, 2011

Don't Bank Our Future on Oil We May Not Have

Advocates of more drilling often cite figures on America's unproven reserves to push their arguments. But relying on those figures could leave the U.S. in a bigger energy jam. Over the weekend, I noticed that an op-ed in Investor’s Business Daily took me to task for citing “proven” oil …

Written by David Jenkins on Tuesday April 5, 2011

How America Lost the Green Tech Race

The good news from a new clean energy investment report is that the sector shook off the recession blues in 2010. The bad news is that the U.S. is trailing the rest of the world. The good news from the latest Pew Charitable Trusts and Bloomberg New Energy Finance clean energy investment report is …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Thursday March 31, 2011

The Dems' Climate Change Dodge

Instead of fighting a bill which would prohibit EPA from regulating greenhouse emissions, Senate Dems are proposing to further limiting the agency's authority. Leave it to the Democrats to come up with weasly alternatives to Senator James Inhofe’s bill that would prohibit the Environmental …

Written by Jim DiPeso on Friday March 25, 2011

Nuke Energy: The Next Casualty of Japan

The aftershocks from the Japan quake are being felt around the world: Nuclear energy projects are being suspended with knee-jerk swiftness and little thought. It's like watching a Japanese Monster B-Movie: Battered by two epically-scaled natural disasters and now a human-made emergency in the form …

Written by Tim Hodgson on Thursday March 17, 2011